Time-fuse.



No. 679,858. Patented Aug. 6, 19m.

A. NOBLE & a. STUART. 3

TIME FUSE.

[Application filed Jam-23, 1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

S e s M m No. 679,858. Patented Aug. 6, [90L A. NOBLE G. G. STUART.

TIME FUSE.

(Application filed Jun. 23,1901.)

2 S||eets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

Wibwww.

nro-uruow WASHINGTON. 9. c4

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW NOBLE AND GEORGE STUART, OF NEVVCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS TO SIR \V. G. ARMSTRONG, iVIlITWORTl-I & COMPANY, LIMITED, OF SAME PLACE.

TIME-FUSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 679,858, dated August 6, 1901.

Application filed January 23, 1901. Serial No. 44,405. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ANDREW NOBLE, K. C. 13., F. R. 8., and GEORGE STUART, engineer, subjects of the Queen of Great Britain, residingat ElswickVVorks, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, have invented a certain new and useful Time-Fuse, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object the construction of a ti me-f use of such a nature that the time of burning shall be twice the length of an ordinary short-range fuse. To attain this object, two composition rings are used. The upper ring carries the means of ignition and after burning a certain length ignites the lower by means of a flash-hole in it. The two rings are geared together so that when the upper ring is revolved the lower ring turns at half the speed of the upper, so that if the fuse is set at full length the upper ring will burn the full length and then ignite the bottom ring at the flash-hole, which in its turn will burn its full length.

Figure 1 is an elevation of a fuse made according to this invention and set at safety. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2, Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a plan with the nut and dome removed. Fig. 4 is a plan of the body of the fuse; and Figs. 5 and 6,vertical sections thereof on the lines 5 5 and 6 6, Fig. 4. Figs. 7, 8,

9 are respectively a plan, an under side view, and a section on the line 9 9, Fig. 7, of the lower ring. Figs. 10 and 11 are respectively an under side View and a plan of the upper ring; and Figs. 12 and 13 are sections on the lines 12 12 13 13, Fig. ll.

a is the body of the fuse, having a screwthread on its lower portion to screw-into the shell. The upper portion carries the lower and upper composition rings 12 and c. ringb has journaled in it a pinion .b, gearing The i with two racks o. and 0, cut on the body a and ring 0, respectively. Above the ring 0 are held secnreby the nutf screwing onto? the top of the body a. The exterior of the The dome is keyed to the upper ring, and as this turns the lower ring turns at half the speed. The lower ring has cut on it a ring'of teeth b engaging with a spring-ratchet a carried by the body a, and as the fuse is set this ratchet clicks against the teeth, and by counting the clicks the fuse can be set in the dark. A blank space in the ring of teeth corresponds to the safety position. The upper ringc carries the igniting device g, which is formed, as is usual, of a weighted striker g, held up by the wire 9 (which is sheared on firing) above a primer 9 To prevent accidental ignition, the striker is held up by a safetypin h, which is withdrawn when the fuse is to be used, and the hole left by its withdrawal is closed by a spring-plug h. When the primer g is fired, the flash passes by the passage 9 to the composition contained in the channel 0 which burns in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 10 and 11 until the hole b is reached leading to the channel b in the lower ring. The composition in the lower ring then burns until the hole a in the body is reached, when the primer 0/ is fired and the shell is exploded. It will be obvious that the time elapsing between the firing of the gun and the bursting of the shell depends on the angle through which the rings have been turned and that as the upper ring turns twice as fast as the lower an equal length of composition will burn in each riugthat is, if the shell is set for twelve seconds the flame will reach the hole I) after six seconds, so that the composition in the top ring will burn for the first six seconds and then that in the lower ring for the remaining six seconds. The products of combustion from the top ring pass by the vent c c to the interior of the dome, through the holes a to the interior of the body, and thence by the vent a to the air, while the products of combustion of the lower ring pass by the vent b to the space between the rings h and c and thence to the air by the vent a There is thus no danger of the second ring being fired too early, and further protection is afforded by the washers or disks 2', which may be of cloth or paper and which enter the grooves t" in the rings b and 0 when the several parts are all fastened together.

What we claim is 1. In a time-fuse, the combination of two composition rings adapted to communicatewith each other, an igniting device and means for gearing the two rings together.

2. In a time-fuse, the combination of a rack on the body of the fuse, an igniting device, an upper composition ring adapted to comm unicate with the upper ring, a rack on this ring, a'lower ring and apinion carried by the composition rings adapted to communicate with ,each other, an igniting device, means for gearing the two rings together, a rack of teeth on the lower ring and a spring-ratchet on the body of the fuse engaging with the teeth on the lower ring. I

5..In a time-fuse, the combination of the igniting device g, therringc in-which are cut the channel 0 and vent 0?, the ring bin which are cut the hole 12 channel 11 and vent and the body a, in which are cut the vents-0L and a ANDREW NQBLE.

GEORGE STUART. Witnesses:

L. PURVIS, L. W. Woons.

why

Corrections Letters Patent No. 679,858.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 679,858, granted August 6, 1901 upon the application of Andrew Noble and George Stuart, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,

England, for an improvement in Time-Fuses, errors appear in the printed specifications requiring correction, as follows: On page 2, lines 8-9, the clause adapted to communicate with the upper ring] should be stricken out; same page, line 10, after the Word lower the Word composition should be inserted and same line, before the Word and the clause adapted to communicate with the upper ring should be inserted;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 15th day of October, A. D., 1901.

[SEAL] F. L. CAMPBELL,

Assistant Secretary of the Interior. Countersigned E. B. MOORE,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

